DALLAS — Ryan Spooner is a man of few words and fewer points but he made his point Saturday against Vegas, his first as an Edmonton Oilers forward.

He buried Jujhar Khaira’s feed for the game winner after linemate Ty Rattie had stripped the puck from Cody Eakin in the third period.

After seven games and nothing to show for it, Spooner made his mark by finding some open space and beating Marc-Andre Fleury. After the 2-1 victory, he was wearing relief on his face, a motorcycle helmet on his head and a vest around his chest as the team-voted him the Hero for a Night.

“It’s been a rough start for me here, it’s gotten into my head,” admitted Spooner, who came to the Oilers from the New York Rangers two weeks ago with a goal and an assist in 16 games for Ryan Strome, who was very popular in the dressing room, even if he was struggling (one goal, one assist) just as much as Spooner to get points.

It’s always tricky when you’re traded. You want to make a strong first impression, but while Strome has four points (two goals) in his eight Rangers games, playing 16 minutes a night, Spooner had been employed here, there and everywhere except finding his way to the press box. He played on the wing deep in the lineup for Todd McLellan for two games, then Ken Hitchcock had him on the wing with Connor McDavid for one game in Los Angeles, then the wing elsewhere, and at centre on what he keeps hoping is a 3-A line — a complement to the banging of Kyle Brodziak, Milan Lucic and Zack Kassian, always a staple of Hitchcock teams.

“He only got nine minutes (against Vegas). If the coach was a little smarter, he would have played him more,” kidded Hitchcock after another one-goal Oilers game, the modus operandi of the new coach.

Spooner, a quiet kid who’s not into blowing his own horn, wasn’t doing so after the winner, either. He was just happy to see his name on the stats sheet, to do something rather than put on No. 23.

“It’s been that kind of year, all over the place. Right wing, centre, left,” he said. “But again, I’m happy to play first line or fourth.”

“We’re looking for two third lines and if that’s the kind of game he can give us, that’s what we want,” said Hitchcock.

Scratching the surface with Spooner, the coach is trying to find a fit, unlike Strome, who didn’t provide the offensive juice they thought he would after they dumped Jordan Eberle’s $6-million salary to the New York Islanders.

“I like Spooner more at centre than on the wing. On the wing, he ends up on the outside of the rink, on the perimeter too much,” said the new coach, who wants his players to get inside the face-off dots. “In the middle, he’s a smart player, a good skater and we can use him on match-ups farther down the lineup. He can take some risks.”

Rattie, who has had to win over coaches at every NHL stop, knows that skill is one thing, but there’s also will. He knows what Spooner has been going through, especially with the pressure of an in-season trade, and no points.

“This game is so mental when things aren’t bouncing your way and the head starts growing. It can be a slippery slope,” said Rattie.

Hitchcock is really looking for three guys he can play every night on a different line from Brodziak & Co. Like Vegas, who has two contributing lines after their top-six forwards.

“We have a lot of guys in the mix … there’s going to be some really good competition for that line. Spooner, Khaira, Rattie, (waiver claim Valentin) Zykov, and (Tobias) Rieder will be coming back,” said Hitchcock.

“J.J.’s a good player. I didn’t know much about him but he’s a solid player and Rattie? We were looking for something different (sitting out for Patrick Russell, now back in Bakersfield) but knew we could go back to Ty.”

Spooner, who played 13 shifts, worked nicely with Rattie and Khaira.

“We played a north-south game. In this league, if you get cute, it doesn’t work out,” said Spooner.

Since he came in the deal for Strome, he has a longer leash than someone like Rattie, who was the best player on the line Saturday. He had four shots, drew a penalty and deserved an assist for pressuring Eakin into a mistake behind the net before the Spooner goal.

“I proved myself early in the season but things change and I have to do it again. I had to do something or I would be the odd-man out,” said Rattie. “Our line had a good game.’’

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